October 2012 Newsletter of Kettle Moraine Counseling Services!

Fall leaves are turning earlier this year; the Northwood’s leaves were at peak a week ago- sure is beautiful outside right now. I am going to NYC to see my oldest in a few weeks and I am very excited to spend some time with him. The concrete sidewalks in NYC really hurt my feet so I am looking for good walking shoes (looking at clogs with good support), but I can never find comfortable shoes for my wide feet : ( . At the clinic, Tammy Ricke and Lester Menke have moved over to the Cedarburg office where they will be seeing clients. That makes 4 therapists at Cedarburg: Tammy, Lester, Jennifer Skinner and JoEllyn Schultz. Deb Graf and Christina Lachner are doing some training for foster families, and I have included that information in this newsletter. BadgerCare has had some recent changes with United Healthcare no longer being a provider and some clinics no longer taking Badgercare clients. At our clinic we will continue to serve BadgerCare clients, and we take all the HMO’s for Washington County residents. We are in the helping profession and all people deserve high quality care. Till next time, be gentle with yourself and others. Devona Marshall Clinic Director

Parents of foster or adoptive children experience many challenges that most people don’t understand. Did you know there is a support group for you? It’s called Washington and Ozaukee County Foster Parent Support Group. Besides receiving support, attendance at these sessions also provides CEU’s for foster parent training hours! KMC’s counselors, Deb Graf and Christina Lachner, are presenters at the next two meetings.

If you are interested in attending the sessions below, or other sessions, please RSVP to Jamie Webber, 262/346-8294 or jwebber17@att.net

Family Center of Washington County
1517 Lang Street West Bend, WI 53090

EMDR Reduces Anxiety and Trauma Symptoms
October 11, 2012, 7–9 pm

EMDR stands for “Eye Movement, Desensitization and Reprocessing”. Developed by Francine Shapiro in the late 1900’s, this researched psychotherapeutic approach uses bilateral stimulation to “unfreeze”traumatic body memories, integrate the thinking and feeling sides of the brain, and rapidly process the memories in order to provide freedom from anxiety and trauma symptoms. In this workshop, participants will briefly understand what EMDR is, how EMDR works, and observe EMDR in action. In addition, Deb will teach parents how to use bilateral stimulation to create a “safe place” for your child so that your child can physically relax, and hopefully sleep better at night.

Unfortunately, foster children experience many significant losses: birth parents, siblings, schools, friends, caregivers, different homes and rules, loss of innocence due to neglect and/or abuse, stability…. Since children don’t have the coping skills to deal with their grief, they usually avoid emotions and become “numb”, which creates more anxiety and behavior problems. Biological children also grieve over the addition of foster kids to their family (not as much time with parents, have to share house and toys…),and again when the foster children leave. During this workshop, participants will be able to identify the numerous losses children experience, recognize grieving behaviors at various age levels, implement emotional safety techniques so children feel safe to grieve, and develop coping strategies to help their children process their grief.

OAK CREEK

West Bend, Cedarburg and Oak Creek area counseling. Counseling for couples, families, children and individuals. Kettle Moraine Counseling is a mental health clinic, with 3 locations: West Bend, Cedarburg and Oak Creek, Wisconsin. We are an experienced, ethical and skilled group of therapists who love our work! We offer individual, couples and family therapy with day, evening and Saturday hours.
Areas served: Jackson, Slinger, West Bend, Cedarburg, Grafton, Germantown, Kewaskum, Hartford, Horicon, Menomonee Falls, Oak Creek, South Milwaukee, St. Francis and Cudahy.

IN WEST BEND, WE ARE LOCATED IN BARTON, JUST BEFORE THE RIVER, ON THE LEFT.